The Power the Dark Lord Knows Not
by Rei Ronin
Summary: The Prophecy will come to pass. But for Harry Potter to live, he must gain the power mentioned, and he's running out of time! How is the new class supposed to help? HHr, 6th year fic.
1. Welcome back

Work of fanfiction. 

"Off to Hogwarts," said Ron cheerfully as they found an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express. He had waited outside the prefects' carriage for the other two members of the Dream Trio, having given up his position last year.

"Yeah," said Harry, sitting down, "Wonder who'll be the Defense teacher this year? Lupin would be great, though that's wishful thinking."

"We'll just have to see," said Hermione, "Oh! We put this off long enough. What did everyone get on their O.W.L.s?"

Harry's head snapped up. "I had completely forgot to open them!"

Ron looked sheepish. "I'm not sure I'll want to open mine."

"Honestly, Ron," huffed Hermione with her characteristic eye roll, "You need it for course optioning this year.

"Yeah…"

"We'll open them together, Ron," assured Harry. "C'mon." He held up his envelope. Hermione also took hers out, still sealed. "`Mione?" 

"I figured we should all open them together," she said with a shrug, "It's been driving me kinda crazy, but I did it."

"Fine," said Ron, pulling his out, "It's not like I haven't been expecting it."

They all nodded, then opened their letters. "I'll go first," said Hermione, and started to recite: "History of Magic: O. Charms: O. Transfiguration: O. DADA: O. Ancient Runes: A. Arithmancy: E. Potions: O. Care of Magical Creatures: E. Herbology: O. Astronomy: D. D?"

Harry frowned. "I thought you'd do better than that `Mione. But you remember what happened in astronomy."

"Yeah."

"Well, I could've done a lot better," said Ron miserably. "History of Magic: D. Charms: A. Transfiguration: A. DADA: O. Divination: T. Huh, there really is a T. Potions: D. Care of Magical Creatures: A. Herbology: A Astronomy: D. So, how about you Harry?"

Harry quirked a little smile. "History of Magic, though I have no idea how: A. Charms: O. Transfigurations: E. DADA: O. Divination, with no clue how: D. Potions: O. Bite me, Snape. Care of Magical Creatures: O. Herbology: E. Astronomy: D."

"Blimey, Harry! That's amazing! You could go in for Auror classes!"

Harry smiled. "I think I will."

Hermione grinned. "Won't Snape be surprised to see you again. Looks like we'll be in a lot of the same classes, Harry."

"Huh?" Ron and Harry both looked at her strangely.

"Oh. Uh…I'm going to try being an Auror." Strangely, she almost seemed to blush at this. 

"You mean, you're going to be an Auror," said Ron. He looked kind of disappointed. "It's not like you ever failed at schoolwork before."

Hermione nodded. "What about you, Ron? What are you going to do?"

Ron shrugged. "Maybe MLE. Or pro Quiddich now that I finally got out of my 'crowd rut'."

"That's not too different than Auror classes, MLE is," noted Harry, "Why don't you take those? You'll have Quiddich as a fallback, and classes with us."

"That was basically what I was thinking," said Ron, yawning, "Merlin, I'm tired. Shouldn't have stayed up so late."

"We can go patrolling, leave you alone, so you can sleep," offered Hermione. 

"If you two want to. I don't mind," answered Ron, slouching down and drawing his robes up around his face. He was already snoring by the time that the other two had stepped into the corridor.

Hermione shut the compartment's door, shutting off Ron's snores. "I feel sorry for you, Harry."

Harry took his wand out and hid it up his sleeve. "Nah, he doesn't snore lying down. At least, as badly."

"Why did you put your wand up your sleeve?" asked Hermione.

"`Mione, you don't seriously think we're not going to run into Malfoy, right?" Harry asked, with a surprised look on his face. He grinned as she emulated his trick.

"Let's go," said Hermione with a smirk on her face, "Between this and the DA, Malfoy won't know what hit him."

 One encounter with Malfoy and Parkinson later, had Harry and Hermione walking away, spinning their wands in their fingers, humming and singing a Muggle 'oldie'. The DA was cheering as they surveyed the results of their leaders' handiwork, even after Harry and Hermione had left the car. 

"Impressive," said a voice. A man wearing leather armor and a cloak walked up to the stunned and cursed bodies of the two Slytherins. A sword hung at his side, the handle easily visible. "Not a bad showing at all." He had spiky brown hair, and a skinny but powerful frame. When he stood up from his check of the bodies, the students got a good look at his face. His right cheek bore an ugly cross-scar. It didn't detract from his beauty, mostly because he really didn't have much. "Who did this?" His eye bored into the oldest student's. The student noted the fact that they were constantly shifting color, never staying the same, like the colors were a boiling potion. They also seemed to demand complete truth.

"Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, sir," got out the student.

"The Boy-who-lived, and his friend, huh? I'll have to remember that," said the man, as he put his hand on the butt of his sword's hilt, drawing it upwards to let himself turn unencumbered. He walked out of the car, singing softly. "Du, du, du. Another one bites the dust. Du, du, du. Another one bites the dust. And another one gone, another one gone, another one bites the dust."

Harry and Hermione both walked back towards the car where they had left Ron. Harry watched as Hermione stretched her wand arm. "That was some fast spell-work," commented the brunette. 

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, it was good to loosen back up after break."

"Well, you haven't lost any skill over the last two months."

"Well, if you say it, it must be true," said Harry jokingly.

She frowned. "It's not like I'm perfect, you know. You heard my O.W.L.s."

"I never said you were," said Harry, backing off a bit.

She was starting to get angry now. "But everyone expects me to be! Hermione Granger, whose greatest fear is a 9/10 on her homework." The last sentence was delivered bitterly. "I mean, if I don't get a perfect on a test, everyone automatically thinks they failed it!"

It was a good thing they were between cars, mused Harry. Hermione was getting a little hysterical.

"How can everyone expect me to hold up to this, all the time!?"

Harry smiled sadly. "I understand, `Mione."

"How could you? You use my notes, my help…" 

She stopped when she saw him tapping his forehead. "Boy-who-lived, remember?"

She clapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh, Harry, I'm sorry!"

He shook his head. "How many times have I blown up at you and   
Ron? Don't worry about it. So long as," His sad smile turned into a broad grin, "you still help us out on our homework."

She jokingly punched him. "Hey!"

Harry put up his hands. "Don't worry, `Mione, I'll be fair. You can copy my homework too."

She smirked. "I might just have to take you up on that."

"Blimey! And risk the dreaded 9/10?"

She giggled, but turned more serious. "That's not my greatest fear, you know." She blushed lightly.

Harry didn't see it. "I know. C'mon, let's get back to Ron."

When they got back, Ron had detained the food trolley so they could buy snacks. Harry bought a stack of Cauldron Cakes and a few Chocolate Frogs for everyone. 'Everyone' including Ginny, now a new fifth-year prefect, and Luna, who had her wand behind her ear, and was reading the now-famous issue of the _Quibbler_ for perhaps the fortieth time. 

"What did I miss?" asked Ron.

"We came, we saw, we hexed," grinned Harry.

Ron pouted. "Now I wish I hadn't stayed up so late."

Everyone laughed and Luna switched issues. It was the current issue of the magazine. She turned to the title story and started reading. Ginny read the cover. "A third class of humans outside of wizards and Muggles? A look at the mysterious third segment of humanity."

Luna nodded. "They're called janshi. They don't use magic, but exhibit extremely formidable powers." She flipped through the story. "Actually, there isn't much here. I think Daddy just liked the story so he made it cover." She frowned. "To be honest, this issue isn't much good."

"Janshi," said Hermione, "I think that's Chinese for 'warrior'. But a third class of humanity? That's pretty far out." The others all nodded.

Luna bit her lip. "I don't know why Daddy let in such an unresearched story. Though there are some interesting things at the end about figures in history who might have been janshi."

Ron opened a Chocolate Frog. "Ahh. Hey! Harry, you've got your own Chocolate Frog card!"

Harry nearly choked on the Cauldron Cake he was eating. "What!? You're kidding."

Ron handed the card over. Harry looked it over, speechless. "Don't let fame get to your head, Harry," laughed Ginny.

Ron chuckled too. "Dumbledore always did value his Frog card over all the honors he was given." 

"Congratulation," said Luna. Harry slipped the pentagonal card into his pocket. Luna's gaze drifted back to the _Quibbler_. "You know, I wish I knew more about the janshi. Even with so few details, it seems to be true."

Hermione coughed, as if to say: _Well, now that she believes in it, we know it's bogus._

The conversation shifted to Hogwarts and course optioning, the train puffing onwards.

"Ahh. It is good to see you all again, back safe and sound at Hogwarts," proclaimed Dumbledore, "Now, I ask that we begin the Sorting of our newcomers. Bring in the Sorting Hat!"

Like normal, it was an almost even four-way split between the three Houses. Unlike normal, there were so many new students that the tables got a mite crowded. Harry got sandwiched between Ron and Hermione. Almost immediately, Dumbledore extended the tables, but Harry thought Hermione didn't take as much advantage of the new room as Ron did. 

"And now," said Dumbledore, "I have a few words for you. Tuck in!" Food magically appeared on the plates. Ron dug in, but Harry and Hermione looked at the notes containing the password that had appeared along with the food.

"What is it this year?" asked Ron through a three-quarters full mouth.

"Shrubbery," deadpanned Harry.

Hermione giggled. "Ni!"

Ron shook his head. "You're scaring me, Herms." As the other two filled their plates, he looked up at the teacher table. "Hey. Is that Lupin up there?"

Harry and Hermione's heads snapped up and stared at the werewolf. "It is him!" said Harry happily. Lupin waved at them. They waved back and stared eating again. Harry found an interesting dish. Fish on top of tacky rice. He popped one of the little things in his mouth. "Hmm, pretty good. Hey, Hermione?" The bushy-haired girl looked at him. "What's this stuff?"

Her eyes widened. "That's sushi. It's Japanese." She ate a piece. "Maguro."

"What was that?" asked Ron.

"Tuna. Good tuna. Funny, we've never had Japanese food here before." Her eyes swept the staff table. "Who's the guy talking to Hagrid?"

Ron and Harry both looked up to see the spiky-haired man in leather armor speaking to Hagrid. "You mean scar-face, right Herms?" asked Ron.

She frowned. "Yeah, Ron, I'm talking about the one who has a sword leaned up against his chair."

Ron's eyes got really wide. Harry looked at it interestedly. "That's a katana. That's a Japanese blade."

Hermione looked at Harry, surprised. "How'd you know that?"

Harry shrugged. "Some guy opened a swords shop in Little Whinging. I got along with him and helped him out in the shop as a summer job. Learned a bunch about swords. Looks like the guy is eating sushi, too."

"I guess that's why the house elves made these," said Hermione, "Wonder if there are any chopsticks around?"

Harry found a couple of pairs, and he and Hermione moved onto the sushi until dessert appeared. Harry demolished a large slice of cheesecake, Hermione ate chocolate cake, and Ron ate half a cherry pie. Feeling rather sated, they looked up at Dumbledore as he made his traditional beginning-of-term speech. After he had gotten through the normal information for the new students, he progressed to introductions. "And I would like to welcome back Professor Remus Lupin, our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Lupin got a loud cheer. "Also, Hogwarts is offering a new class for sixth years and above, very useful for those who plan to go into Magical Law Enforcement or plan to become Aurors. Professor Kai Reased will be teaching Warrior Arts." The scarred man smiled and nodded to Dumbledore. "Now, I believe it is time for us all to go up to bed. Prefects, please lead your Houses up to the dormitories. Good night."

The students all stood up. Harry sighed and cupped his hands round his mouth. "First year Gryffindors, please follow me! First year Gryffindors this way!"

"See you two at the tower," said Ron, making his way through the crowd quickly.

Harry and Hermione sighed, and started leading the new additions to Gryffindor House to the dorms.

Hermione and Harry finished checking off their schedules. She picked hers up and read it out. "Okay, we have Advanced Charms, Advanced Transfigurations, Advanced Potions, and, of course, Advanced DADA. We've also got Advanced Care of Magical Creatures and Advanced Herbology. Astronomy we don't have a choice about. No more History of Magic. I'm dropping Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, and you're dropping Divination. Harry, we're going to have two free slots." She looked up at him. "What are you planning to do about that?"

Harry drummed his fingers on the common room table. "Well, Dumbledore sent me a note saying that if I wanted, I could keep the DA up and running as a school club. I was kinda hoping you would help me on that. I mean, it was your idea in the first place. He said in the note that it would be good to have a free slot for planning, and that the added responsibility justified the empty slot."

Her cheeks tinged pink. "Sure Harry, I'll help you. What about the other one?"

"What about the new class? What is it?" He looked over the scheduling form. "Warrior Arts. Dumbledore said it'd be helpful for our career field. Actually," said Harry, tapping his chin, "I think I saw him glance over at us when he announced it."

Hermione turned thoughtful. "Yes, he did say that. But what kind of class is it anyway? I've never heard of it."

"Neither have I," said Harry, "But I'm interested. It can't hurt, can it?"

"You're right." They checked it off. Ron walked over to them.

"Are you two _finally_ done?" He smiled at their nods. "Can I see them?" He looked over Harry's. "Oh no!"

"What is it Ron?" asked Hermione.

"You two are taking the exact same classes, right?" At their uncomprehending nods, he continued, "You're not in History of Magic! I already turned in my sheet."

"So?" said Harry, "We weren't going to have the same classes, Ron, you knew that."

"Not the point! Now I don't have access to Hermione's godlike notes." 

Hermione punched him in the arm. "You prat!" she laughed.

Ron looked over the rest of it. "Looks like I won't be seeing you in Divination either, Harry."

Harry looked at Ron surprisedly. "I thought you were dropping that class."

Ron shook his head. "You have to deal with Seers in MLE. Figure I might as well get the practice. Besides, if I ever do learn something in there, it could be helpful in the Ministry." He looked at the schedule again. "You know, I gotta wonder if I'm going to be in any of your classes, with the way N.E.W.T. scheduling works."

Harry and Hermione frowned, Harry perhaps a little more deeply. Then he brightened. "You taking the new class?"

Ron nodded. "Well, I'm likely to be with you two in that at least." He handed Harry's optioning sheet back. "You two had better go turn those in. Then we can enjoy our free day before classes start. Up for a little flying, Harry?"

"Always. You going to come with, Mione?"

Ron smirked. "Herms? Flying? No way."

The brunette scowled. "I'll watch."

Hermione had brought a book out to the pitch, though she didn't need it. She was too busy watching the boys fly. Alright, one of the two. He was truly amazing to watch, very near perfect. She really did wish she could do that, but her fear of heights kept her firmly on the ground. Still, maybe someday she'd ask him for a lesson, even if just to be close to him. And where were these thoughts coming from? She sounded like a lovesick puppy.

She watched as he looped and rolled, following a convoluted flight path. A man's voice interrupted her reverie. "Admirable flying." The speaker injected some sarcasm into his tone. "Though, somehow, I don't think that's the reason you've been watching him exclusively. Weasly's not bad either."

Hermione turned around, startled. Standing behind her in the stands was Professor Reased. He had dispensed with the leather armor and cloak, instead wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket, all muggle clothing. But his sword was still at his side, and one of his hands rested lightly on the butt of the handle. "Professor Reased!"

He nodded to her. "Miss Granger. I understand you have signed up for my class, as have your friends." He gestured towards the sky at the mention of the boys. "And, please, just call me Kai, if not shishou or sensei. Professor doesn't really suit me." He smirked.

She didn't know why, but he almost seemed like a student. "Neither does teacher/student protocol, apparently."

"Yes, well, I call em as I see em. You'll do fine in Warrior Arts. Can you get your friends down? I need to look them over. I tell you, I really miss the old network. Would never have missed so many people."

"They'll be up there for at least another half-hour, Prof…sensei."

He scratched his unblemished cheek. "Oh well. Time for a bit of flying then. Where's the broom shed?" She pointed him. "Thanks." He walked off to get a broom. "Gotta get one for myself," he muttered under his breath.

Harry was thinking about swooping down to check on Hermione when a third broom flew up into the air. Harry circled around to get a good look at the person on it. They were mostly unfamiliar, but the sword sheathed at the man's side clinched it: the new professor. Harry heard the man whistle and point downwards. Harry got the message at once. Ron followed. They spiraled down around the stadium, not wanting to leave the air just yet. Harry steepened his dive, and landed next to Hermione. They watched as Ron took another two laps around the field. Reased simply floated downwards on his borrowed broom "If that kid doesn't land soon, I'm blasting him out of the sky." He jumped off the broom. "You think that…" He looked at the broom. "Malfoy will mind I used this? Oh, wait, that was the kid you two hexed on the train. Nice spellwork." He threw the broom towards the shed and it kept on flying, entering the storage building. Hermione and Harry looked on, impressed. The guy wasn't holding a wand.

Ron finally landed. Kai looked him up and down, nodded, then turned to Harry. He whistled. "You'll do well. All three of you, first class after lunch, every day. I'll see you there." 

Hermione's curiosity got the better of her. "Excuse me, Pro…sensei, what will you be teaching us? Wandless magic? I'd love to be able to do that trick."

He looked over his shoulder. "Now why would you think that?"

Harry was confused too. "But if you can do wandless magic like that, shouldn't you be teaching us that?"

"Whatever gave you the idea I was using a spell? Outside of potions, I've never done a single bit of magic in my life." He looked at them quizzically. 

"You're…you're a Muggle?" breathed Ron.

"Hardly. I'm a janshi."

The idea of janshi and the character Kai Reased, otherwise known as The Rei Ronin, is mine. He had a story written about him, but he eventually just became my penname. Now, after two years, he's back! He is not a self-insert, even if he does share my overly sarcastic sense of humor. 

Next chapter, we'll be seeing more about the janshi, the new school year, and maybe a little fluff.

Oh, and the oldie Harry and Hermione were singing? It was 'Play that Funky Music White Boy'. Ever seen _Evolution_? Just pretend Malfoy's a giant alien bird.


	2. Classes

Work of fanfiction

"You're…you're a Muggle?" breathed Ron.

"Hardly. I'm a janshi."

THE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT

 They gaped at him open-mouthed. "Ja…janshi?" squeaked out Hermione.

He slapped his forehead. "I keep on forgetting that no one knows about us now! Look, I'll explain in class. But right now, I gotta go check the Ravenclaws for potential. Ja na. Remember, right after lunch, meet me outside the DADA classroom." He walked off.

The trio looked at each other. "JANSHI?" they all asked as one.

Transfigurations and Charms flew by quickly, Harry and Hermione soon finding themselves eating in the Great Hall, anxious to get to the new class. They did indeed have the exact same schedule. They both felt it was a lucky break, as Ron didn't have anything but the Warrior Arts class with them. Well, at least they had it every day. Ron sat down with a thump, looking slightly singed. 

"Merlin, Ron! What happened to you?"

The redhead looked over at Harry slowly. "Salamanders, Harry. Nice, safe salamanders. Except that they live in a FIRE!"

"Ah." Harry slid a plate of food towards Ron. "Care of Magical Creatures, huh?"

Ron nodded as he shoveled down food. Hermione looked over at him. "So what happened? Did you fall in the fire?"

Ron muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Sod off". Harry snorted and took a drink of pumpkin juice.

"Should we get going for Warrior Arts?" asked Hermione.

Harry pushed the rest of his food away and nodded. "Meet us at the DADA classroom, Ron?"

Ron mumbled his assent through a mouthful of his BLT.

Kai was back in the leather armor when he picked up the group in front of the classroom. Ron had to run to catch up, as he had taken too long at lunch. 

The scarred man led them to a large classroom with a lot of open space. Desks had been set out in front of a freestanding blackboard, along with some benches and chairs. There was also a large table. The students took out their wands as they came in the door.

Kai turned around and looked at them. "Now, as I'm sure you all know…no, no, wands away!" The class grumbled and put their wands away. "Thank you. Now, as you all know, I am Professor Kai Reased. I teach Warrior Arts. The course goals in this class are…" His arm snapped up and a blast of coruscating fire flew out of it, destroying the blackboard. "Not important." He blew up the desks in the same manner. "Now," he said with a smirk on his face, "You all groaned when I told you to put your wands away. I can promise you that this class is entirely practical, so it shouldn't be boring. I also can promise that you will not learn anything useless in this class. Finally, I will also promise that you won't learn a single bit of magic in this class."

Shock, screams, and indignation. Kai snickered. Luna, the only person outside of the Dream Trio to be unsurprised, or at least to hide their surprise, raised her hand. "Professor? What will you be teaching us, then? This is a school of magic."

"Yes, it is a school of magic," agreed Kai, "But then, you can't expect me to teach you magic, seeing as I'm not a wizard."

"What!?" yelled Malfoy, "What is a Muggle doing at Hogwarts? This is worse than the Mudbloods!"

Malfoy rose into the air, rigidly enclosed in the coruscating fire. "Shutting up now, Mr. Malfoy?" asked Kai evenly. Malfoy couldn't answer, almost as if he was in a full-body bind. "Good. Now, the first thing you should realize is that Muggles are the majority of humanity. Wizards and witches are genetic freaks, proved by the fact that magical people can be born to completely Muggle families, and that Squibs exist. That being said, I'm no Muggle." The fire disappeared and Malfoy dropped to the ground awkwardly. "I am an even rarer form of humanity, a janshi. Now, for those of you who read the _Quibbler_, or whose father owns it, you might know that in this month's issue, there was an article on us. It tells you almost nothing. I can tell you almost everything. Now, who wants to know about the most powerful warriors on earth?"

"If you're so powerful, why haven't you killed You-know-who?" asked Justin Finch-Fletchley.

"I'll assume you're talking about Voldemort," said Kai nonchalantly, "Well, I probably would've, if there wasn't a prophecy that bans me from the act. Still, soul fire would probably be helpful for the guy to learn how to use." Harry could have sworn that the scarred man's eyes flicked over to him at that. "Anyway. Now, I won't be able to teach all of you to manifest soul fire, but that isn't the only thing I'm here to teach you." He pulled out his sword. Harry's eye took it in. The blade wasn't curved too much, but the blade was much longer than most katanas. The hamon was very well defined, and the whole blade shone. "I see someone in the room knows a bit about swords," smirked Kai at Harry. "We'll be using first names in here, so Harry, points to Gryffindor if you can tell me about this blade." He flipped the sword so as Harry could grab it.

Harry took the katana and looked at it. "Well, it's longer than most katanas are, but less curved. The hamon is very distinct, but it doesn't look like it was chemically etched, too uneven. So it was traditionally clay tempered." He swung it just a bit. "Feels like folded steel, and the balance point is near the hilt. And it's been used."

Kai took the sword back. "Naturally. I'd say fifty points to Gryffindor. Now, as for what you missed. This is an extremely old-style katana, dating back to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. It's of full-tang construction, and is from a janshi swordsmith." He moved it through a blurringly fast routine, light flashing around his body. "Fully functional." He sheathed it. "Now, the first thing I have to teach you is how good Muggles are at killing." He smiled and amended himself, "Or rather, how ingenious." He walked over to the table and picked up a pistol, cocking it, and flipping off the safety. "This is a Heckler and Koch .40 caliber Unified Services Pistol, considered by many to be the most advanced pistol in the world." He spun and fired three times, blowing the smoke from the USP's barrel after he raised the pistol from firing position. "Come over here," he said as he safed the pistol and walked over to the wall he had shot. The class followed him, and looked at the three small craters, with smears of lead in them. "Now as I'm sure you're aware, the Shield Charm can defend against physical attacks as well as magical ones. What you probably aren't aware of is the fact is that the first bullet would have shattered the charm. The other two would have blown bloody holes in the person behind it, likely killing them. And this is just a pistol. I'm sure most of you have heard of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. One bomb for each city. Makes 'let this thing be destroyed' look rather pathetic, neh?"

Cho raised her hand. "Professor?" He glared at her. "Kai? What is 'let this thing be destroyed'?"

Kai sighed. "The incantation for the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra, is a bastardized version of the Aramaic for 'let this thing be destroyed'. That's not the point though. The point is, wizards are really novices at killing compared to Muggles. You'd all do well to remember that, especially as part of this class is learning how to use a Muggle weapon. In most cases, a sword." He walked over to the table. "Don't worry, you don't need to get one. I had Albus enchant a number of blades for this purpose." He picked up a straight blade with oriental styling. "Cho, this is yours. Tai chi sword." The sword and sheath floated through the air to her. "Luna, you'll be using a rapier, third generation." Her sword and sheath flew over to her as well. "Draco, kris sword." A wavy blade, looking much like a snake, moved over to the Slytherin. "Justin, broadsword." A no-nonsense broadsword floated to in front of the Hufflepuff. "Seamus, claymore." The Scottish blade moved to in front of the Irish Gryffindor. "Tonfa, I think, Neville." A pair of studded rods with handles sticking out of them, floated towards the round-faced boy. "Ginny, shamshir." The Middle Eastern scimitar flew over to her. "Hermione, ninja-to." The straight-bladed Japanese weapon zipped to in front of Hermione's face. "Harry, katana." The samurai blade flew to in front of Harry's face. "And Ron, double-sided, long-blade spear." The polearm, in three pieces, flew over to Ron. "The blades are all enchanted so that they won't cut for the moment. I want you to start carrying these around so much that you no longer carry them, but _wear _them. You will be the only people able to draw them. Now, Ron, Neville, here are your carriers." Special carriers flew towards them. "That's pretty much it for the day. Get a feel for your weapon if you want to, ask me about it, go study it, do homework for another class, or just plain screw off. I don't really care." 

Harry thrust the katana's sheath through one of his belt loops. To be honest, it felt rather natural, hanging by his side. Hermione tried to emulate him before realizing that she was wearing a skirt. Harry caught her doing that and shook his head. "No, Mione, not like that." He took the still-sheathed ninja-to and showed her the strap on the saya. "Ninja-to are worn on the person's back. You want the handle to be over your left shoulder, so you can draw it cross-body with the right." He put the sword over her body and placed it correctly. "Like that."

"Oh," said Hermione softly. She tightened the strap a bit, so that the sword clung more firmly to her body. Harry blushed and looked away, as the strap pulled the fabric of her shirt down into the valley between her breasts.

_Damn! When did she get those? Those are definitely bigger than they were at the Yule Ball. She's your friend, dammit! Shut up about that! Oh, this year is going to be hell, if we're supposed to wear these blades all the time. _Harry turned back to her, only to see her walking away. "Where are you going?"

She turned around, looking kind of embarrassed. "The library."

Now why would she be embarrassed about that? "Why?"

"So I could learn about…"

He cut her off. "No, no. Why are you going there? They probably don't have much about the ninja-to, the primary weapon of shinobi. I can tell you a lot about it." At her incredulous look, he cocked his head to the side. "What? I worked at a sword shop for a summer."

She walked over and sat down against a pillar. "Okay. So tell me about this thing on my back."

He drew his sword and sat down next to her. "Now the first thing is, your blade and mine are quite alike. Both Japanese, right?" He pointed to where there was a color difference in the steel of the blade. "This is the hamon, or temper line. You see, Japanese blades have two types of steel on them…" 

As Harry went on, a pair of multi-colored eyes watched him from across the room. _Snake-face won't know what hit him._

"That is a _wicked _class," gushed Ron, "Absolutely wicked. What an awesome teacher!" He fingered the disassembled spear on his back. "We get to carry blades around!"

"Have to, you mean," said Hermione, tugging at the ninja-to's strap, "It feels just fine, but it's a little compromising on the modesty deal."

Ron looked at her strangely. "Huh?"

She shook her head. "Better that your immature mind doesn't get it, Ron."

He shook his head confusedly. He abandoned the thought and moved on to Harry. "So, Harry, looks like I got the bigger blade," he said, smirking.

Hermione's eyes were hard pressed to follow what happened next. Harry turned to Ron, freed his saya from his belt loop, and popped the blade. Then, in a flash of light, the blade came singing out of the sheath, stopping under Ron's chin. "All in how you handle it, Ron," he said, with a smirk on his face.

Ron stumbled backwards a few steps as Harry sheathed the katana. "Damn, Harry, what the bloody hell was that?"

"Iaijutsu," said Harry, "Admittedly, I've never done it that fast before, but that's what it was." He looked down at his arms, as if they had rebelled.

"Iaijutsu? Where'd you learn that, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"It translates roughly to 'sword-drawing art'," said Harry, "And Mr. McLeod taught me a little about how to use swords when business was slow." He smiled. "That's about all the time in one of those stores." He put the sheath back into his belt loop, and got a troubled look on his face. "But I'm not that good. Never have been."

"You are now," said Ron, still impressed, "We'd better get going to classes."

"Come on Harry, we've got Herbology." 

"Right."

A/N: Can anyone guess what Mr. McLeod's first name is? Heh. 

And as for the weapons I gave the students:

Cho Chang: tai chi sword: Like the Green Destiny sword from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

 Luna Lovegood: Third-generation rapier: The sword Commodore Norrington has in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Draco Malfoy: Kris sword: A kris blade implies that the blade is wavy, like fire or a snake. Obviously, Draco's is snake-styled.

Justin Finch-Fletchley: Broadsword: You know, what knights used? Not freaking hard to figure out.

Seamus Finnegan: Claymore: Scottish sword. Think Braveheart.

Neville Longbottom: Tonfa: Sun Ce used these. Dynasty Warriors 2-4 should have a model of him.

Ginny Weasley: Shamshir: Middle Eastern scimitar, not to be confused with the Asian variety. They show up in Aladdin. (The skinny swords.) Scimitar is actually the bastardized version of shamshir.

Hermione Granger: Ninja-to: The ninja sword, often misnamed as a straight-bladed katana.

Harry Potter: Katana: Samurai long sword. Come on, do I really have to explain this one?

Ron Weasley: Double-sided, long-bladed spear: Pretty much self-explanatory. One note, though. The spear breaks into three pieces, and the blades can be wielded much like short swords with long handles.

Kai Reased: Old-style katana: Zhou Tai's weapon from Dynasty Warriors 4.

                     Second Sword: No spoilers!


End file.
